I have stood up to the hopes of the country for first medal: Sakshi Malik

HIGHLIGHTS

Sakshi Malik came back from behind to defeat Aisuluu Tynybekova of Kyrgyzstan in bronze medal match

Sakshi hails from Mokhra village near Rohtak in Haryana

Sakshi is the first female wrestler from India to bag an Olympic medal

Sakshi Malik. (Reuters Photo)

HIGHLIGHTS

Sakshi Malik came back from behind to defeat Aisuluu Tynybekova of Kyrgyzstan in bronze medal match

Sakshi hails from Mokhra village near Rohtak in Haryana

Sakshi is the first female wrestler from India to bag an Olympic medal

A diminutive 23-year-old girl from Mokhra village near Rohtak in Haryana, Sakshi Malik, touched glory at the Rio Olympics on Wednesday by reaching out and grabbing the only medal India has been able to win at the 31st Olympiad. (

A diminutive 23-year-old girl from Mokhra village near Rohtak in Haryana, Sakshi Malik, touched glory at the Rio Olympics on Wednesday by reaching out and grabbing the only medal India has been able to win at the 31st Olympiad. (RIO 2016 FULL COVERAGE)

"This is the first time that a medal has come for women. It's a success of my 12 years of dedication. My hard work has succeeded," Sakshi said.

It was a rousing display of fighting spirit and never-say-die attitude from the Indian.

Aisuluu was clearly the superior wrestler in the totally one-sided opening round, displaying impressive strength and technique to take five points and open up a formidable lead.

But Sakshi -- who has previously shown a knack of staging strong comebacks -- was a totally transformed grappler in the second round, taking eight consecutive points to send the sizable number of Indian fans in the stands into wild delirium.

Sakshi's medal capped another day of heartbreaks for India including an unfortunate injury to Vinesh in the women's 48kg Freestyle category that forced her out of the competition.

MEDAL AGAINST ALL ODDS

"To those who told me I am a girl and I could not wrestle, I want to say please show some trust in girls, they can do everything," she said.

Later, at an impromptu press conference, Sakshi was asked if she was still feeling the pain from the battering during the match. "After the medal all the pain has gone. If I had missed the medal, all the aches would have shown up," she said beaming.

"I was confident till the end that the medal was there and I told myself, you have to fight. That's why I attacked again and again succeeding after a lot of effort," she said, adding that the medal was dedicated to "every person who helped me along, my parents, my coaches and my training partners."

She said she was disturbed and her mind got diverted when Vinesh, her wrestling colleague, was injured in another bout and had to be carried away on a stretcher. "But then I thought I must redouble my efforts to get a medal which she would also have got."

IN ELITE COMPANY

She broke out in applause "yayyyyy," when someone told her that her name would now be taken in the same breath as Yogeshwar Dutt and Sushil Kumar, the earlier bronze medal winners.

"When I used to see them I was in awe how I would be able to even train with them. My idols have been men like Sushil Kumar who paved the way for our success," she said.

The Indian chief coach, Kuldeep Singh, said that the bronze medal match was the best one because she showed her true value by coming back from a very low point. Sakshi was trailing 0-5 in the first period before fighting her way back into the bout in the second period.

"During the break we explained to her the mistakes she was making. The opponent was placing the weight of her body on Sakshi without moving her legs. So we advised that Sakshi should divert her weight and attack her," he said.

Do You Like This Story? Awesome! Now share the story Too bad. Tell us what you didn't like in the comments